A lot of readers probably are scratching their head now wondering if Wilc0 really doesn't know about Halo? Well, maybe I do, maybe I don't, but how would YOU describe Halo? If you go the Wikipedia page the first sentence is: "Halo is a multi-billion dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios." Not really clarifying anything is it?
Somewhat further it clarifies some more: "[Halo] centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant." So, now we know it is a very profitable science fiction video game set in interstellar space between humanity and some weird aliens? This comes close to the 'truth', but this still is no way to clarify what Halo is.
My best interpretation is this:
"Halo is a first-person shooter (FPS) which centers around the battle between multiple armed forces, namely humanity (UNSC; United Nations Space Command), the Covenant, the Flood and the Forerunners. While everyone except the Flood is well organized, the Flood is by far the most threatening of the bunch. The Flood is the center enemy of the first trilogy ('Halo trilogy') while the UNSC is busy fighting the Covenant and discovering hidden secrets from the ancient Forerunners. Most of the story is told through the eyes of a human supersoldier named "Master Chief" (actual name is John-117). While the entire UNSC army is massive and very powerful, most (important) groundwork used to be done by these supersoldiers, better known as SPARTANs. But during the war with the Covenant many of these SPARTANs have died or gone missing and have not been replaced, in the end only your character is left. Your adventures will take you to various different places in different environments, from a massive spaceship called the "Pillar of Autumn" to a desert on a construct on the edge of the galaxy. You will do most of these mission on your own, or with friends via co-operative play, either online or next to you on the couch. But with some missions you are helped by UNSC Marines. While this describes the story up to the end of Halo 3, now we venture into the mostly unknown 'Reclaimer saga'. This saga started unfolding with the release of Halo 4 and later Halo: Spartan Assault, which will be followed by at least Halo 5 and Halo 6 or whatever they will be known as (no definitive answers as of now). This saga centers mostly around the Master Chief after he has been cryogenically frozen after he near-singlehandedly defeated both the Flood and the Covenant. This saga starts out with the UNSC, lead by the new SPARTAN-IVs, fighting against what remains of the Covenant, aka Storm Covenant or Covenant Remnant. They are a lot stronger and more determined than ever, the reason of which is as of yet unknown. After the Master Chief again makes contact with the UNSC, they find out together what the motivation of the Remnant is. They have made contact with a Forerunner and his awesome army; because the Forerunners were thought to be extinct, a lot of confusion trails through the story. The Forerunner makes clear that he has been in some kind of sleep for a very long time, back when humankind still lived in caves. He makes clear that he is very angry with humankind, since they have taken control of his precious Mantle of Responsibilities. This means that it is humanities duty to preserve the galaxy's biological diversity, protect it from harm. The saga so far has ended with the Master Chief seemingly killing this Forerunner, while he has been infused with some power by a different, kinder Forerunner. The new chapter in the saga story will be unfolded when the game, unofficially named Halo 5, is released somewhere in 2014.
While the campaign is good enough on its own, it also has a very strong multiplayer where you can battle with- and against people from all parts of the world! These multiplayer matches can have competitive gametypes which consist of shooting each other, alone or in teams with various weapons. But they can also contain gametypes in which the objective is a flag, a bomb or an individual player. While these modes are very popular, people can also have their own private games, they even can edit the various maps to put in that bunker you always wanted! This combination sure has inspired a lot of people to make their own crazy gametypes, ranging from an interpretation of American Football to racing games. And if that is not enough, there is also a very good 'Theater Mode' where you not only can see which player killed which, but the 'detachable' camera makes it very popular with Machinima filmmakers. There are a lot of videos which have been filmed using this mode, some of which are quiet popular!"
Well, that about covers it, doesn't it? Like most people on the internet, you probably want to complain and whatever. So I hereby invite everyone to give me their interpretation of this thing called "Halo" and what parts I missed?
